Three Legged Human
by JimmyDANj2
Summary: Humans are among the most mercurial of all species. In order to grasp the reality in front of them at every interval, every climax, every apogee along the way, they wrestle with something drastic.  A look at Simon's growth, and his undulating struggle.


Humans are said to be the only creatures who present themselves as able to walk on four, two, then three legs.

Four, when they are infants, as they use all four limbs to crawl across the ground.

Two, when they rise as young adults, and walk briskly, set alight by their aspirations.

Three, when they approach the end of their lifespan, and, in their tenacity, struggle to stay upright with the support of a cane.

Simon was human, not unlike any other. He, too, can't help but be absorbed into the same progression.

_Four Legs._

He was timid and powerless. Underneath the broad expanse of dirt and stone above him, he felt miniscule. Inside, he cowered, wallowing in his fear, and hunched over on all fours, agitated. He thought it astounding, then, that Kamina would declare that there was a sky above the ceiling of rock. If only the ground overhead rendered Simon so helpless and fragile, and so tiny in comparison, then he could only shudder in even more absolute despair at the prospects of an even wider, even more expansive ceiling above the rock.

_Above_ the rock? Simon, in order to keep his feeble existence in check, had to deny it. He could not comprehend such a thing at first. He nodded to himself, and immediately and desperately dismissed his Bro as ridiculous in his notions.

Though, Simon knew, he couldn't help but admire and envy his Bro in every way possible. He was his role model, a sole source of light guiding him amidst this hole of feeble despair. He was in awe at how Kamina had his head held high, and he was jealous at how much more brightly Kamina shone. Kamina faced, head on, every aspect that Simon shrugged away from.

Simon himself was confused, however, whenever his Bro swung a lazy arm around him and fervently declared that Simon was the only one worthy of being called his blood brother, and that Simon rose, head and shoulders, above "you weak, cowardly villagers".

Simon would always gulp in bewilderment, guilt, and frustration at these moments. How could he live up to these declarations, he would ask himself, fingers fidgeting nervously. And how, frightening uncertain-heavens above, could Kamina expect him to?

Simon knew that Kamina always shined much too brightly for him, or anyone else in this pathetic village. He felt ashamed and unworthy to be rooted next to him, and sad that Kamina was stuck within the confines of something so much lower than him. If something like the sky existed, then Kamina was its representative. But Simon, despite his shame, would always desperately remain by his side, hoping beyond hope that Kamina's influence might coax even the slightest shift from Simon's trembling, curled over self.

Despite himself, Simon always did wonder whether or not his Bro was correct. He found himself hesitantly gazing upwards, simultaneously hoping for and dreading the sky's existence.

Then came the day, when the roof, and all that Simon had tenuously held close to himself, shattered. From the heavens came incandescence, a red-headed beauty - Simon initially thought that Yoko was an angel - and a hulking, mechanized beast. The light was so blinding that Simon was forced to ascend from his hunched position in order to raise a hand and shield his burning eyes. Sunbeams filtered through the ruined ground overhead.

Underground no more, Simon was violently launched from his teetering perch amongst rubble, so that he could make room for the sky streaming downwards.

_Two Legs._

Simon smiled nervously - he found that he could nowadays, now that he was upright, amidst the world of light - as his Bro guffawed loudly. He was standing; unsteadily, perhaps, but his soles were undeniably planted on the bright, earthy floor.

He didn't know what it was he did to deserve such fortune - able, at last, to have escaped from the desolation of the underground alongside his Bro - but Simon decided to not take it for granted, and cherished the moments he spent together with his companions.

When Viral first made his appearance, Simon squeaked, and probably would have returned to that familiarly desolate ball of cowardice, had it not been for Kamina practically beating him verbally with enthusiasm and declarations of overwhelming victory sure to be had when the two blood brothers of the Great Gurren Brigade fought together. Simon trembled, and was again frustrated and frightened at his Bro's irrational claims. How could they possibly win, when their opponent was so obviously their superior in skill? They were beaten senseless, what choice did Simon have _but_ to run away?

Though, even if Simon convinced himself that what he did was justified, he couldn't help the overwhelming amount of shame bubbling from within the depths of his flimsy chest. He felt, as he always did, that he had let his Bro down by not living up to what Kamina surely expected him to be.

* * *

Viral came again, and this time his Bro alone was beaten senseless, and Simon gripped the edge of Lagann's hatch, his eyes scrunched closed, his body shaking with shame and terror.

Yoko, this time, was the one who slammed her hand down and talked him into submission against his submission. "Kamina is waiting for you, his partner. He won't stop getting back up, not even if he's unconscious, unless _you're _there." Simon never once stopped trembling. But his eyes held a glint that enabled him to raise his head. His upper body seemed suddenly to be made of steel. He was scared, alright. But he sure as hell wasn't going to sit there and let his Bro die. Gurren Lagann, as an entity given presence by Kamina and hatched by Simon's feeble tenacity, was born.

* * *

Simon had never felt so ecstatic in years. So many people, by the fire, who came because they had heard of the Gurren Brigade's inspiring bouts against the Beastmen, were congregating near him, all chatting and laughing and spreading warmth Simon knew by now was not possible below this precious ground. It was because of him and his Bro. Because he went along with his Bro's great aspirations. It was because of them that they planned their sure-to-be sensational attack against the Beastmen tomorrow. Their night of merriment would come to an end, yes, but so that they could establish a world where many such nights ahead of them could be possible. Simon was grinning, laughing alongside his Bro for this one, precious night. This one, precious, final night.

* * *

The day had come, and Simon prepared himself, his hands tightly gripping Lagann's handles, his eyes attempting to focus ahead of him. Beyond that cliff, along that mountain, the Beastmen are lying in wait. But he couldn't. He couldn't shake the image out of his head. Yoko...whom he admired so much, the first girl to care for him, and not scorn him, the one who descended along with the light of the sky back then. Her body, tightly wrapped around Kamina's. Simon vigorously shook his head. No. He couldn't be so easily distracted. He had to push such trivial matters aside. They were all counting on him. His Bro was counting on him. He had to stay firm! Like his Bro! If Simon could do what his Bro would do, everything would be fine.

"Simon!"

He snapped to attention, eyes open in surprise. They had started. He revved Lagann's thrusters forward, preparing to engage the biggest monster of all of them. He was ready. He would do it, like his Bro wanted him to. But...that image...

* * *

He stared, wide-eyed, his cheek lightly pulsing from the bruise his Bro had marked upon it.

"Snapped out of it yet? Don't worry, Simon, I'll always be there to punch you back to your senses if you ever head astray." Simon could only stare in incredulity. "Listen up, Simon. Have faith in yourself. Believe in the you who believes in yourself. I've always got your back."

Simon felt something old inside him crumbling, his notion of being curled over was shattered completely and indefinitely. His eyes, usually so scrunched up in worry, lit up brighter than the lights and flashes banging about around him.

"U-Understood!"

* * *

"...Bro?" Simon whispered, his lips cracked, his eyes beady and urgent, with the necessity of seeing Gurren get up from its position on the ground.

Some tenuous string inside him snapped, and his berserk scream alerted everyone to the crazed Dai-Ganzan thrashing about, the volcano erupting in a similar entropy.

Somewhere below, Kamina stirred.

"There's no point. Nothing...nothing I do can change anything now." Simon slumped over in his seat.

Gurren's detached knuckle careened over and struck.

"B-Bro...?"

"Get ahold of yourself, Simon! Now, come on! Let's end this! One last attack, on Gurren Lagann!"

Simon's insides swelled, until he thought he would burst.

"Right!"

* * *

The whisper was so light, Simon wasn't sure if he had heard it all; perhaps it was nothing but rubble and wreckage swept along by the breeze.

"Farewell, my comrades..."

That day, something familiar collapsed, and Simon's legs fell out from beneath him.

* * *

"Don't falter, Rossiu! Bro never even flinched once!" Simon roared, his eyes scarlet with rage, scorched with a pseudo-ferocity.

The hapless Ganmen were decimated underneath Gurren Lagann's relentless assault.

But, there was no way Simon could sustain anything like this. His legs torched from the inside, his spirit devoid of belief, Simon froze, and Lagann disconnected, vomiting out its conscious.

* * *

Simon gazed, completely bewildered, at the girl curled up inside the container.

She was one of the brightest things Simon had ever seen, made even more significant surrounded by the dankness of the desolate graveyard. Simon was briefly reminded of the day he had first witnessed the sky, pulsing through the broken barrier of gravel overhead.

She slowly opened her eyes, and blinked, before stepping out onto the mud.

"Greetings!" Simon flinched, taken aback.

"G-Greetings...?"

She blinked again.

"Hey, you're just like me!" She tiptoed over, and put her hands delicately on Simon's suddenly red face.

"You have no tail, or claws or fangs...and your skin is soft, like mine...what is the reason?"

"R-Reason? W-Well, I mean...it's because we're humans..."

"What is a 'human'?

"H-Huh?" Simon stammered. How was he supposed to answer something like that?

"Uh...w-well, humans are people like you and me..."

"So, there are more of you? They're all exactly like you?"

"Huh? N-No! That'd be creepy...we all have different faces, and-" What was he saying anymore? He himself had barely any idea what he was talking about. He himself barely knew what a human was, or if he himself was even a human anymore, and for this girl to have him explain such things to her...he had no right.

She smiled.

"My name is Nia. What's yours?"

"M-My name? It's, um, Simon."

"That's a nice name, isn't it?" She laughed. At that instant, she sparkled more so than before, and as Simon gulped, he fervently wondered why this girl - Nia - suddenly reminded him so much of Kamina. The similarity between the two, in Simon's eyes, was made all the more uncanny, when, just like with his Bro, Simon felt that he didn't deserve to stand in her presence.

* * *

He sighed.

He wasn't sure exactly _how_ they had fallen into this ridiculous trap, if it could be called as such. Regardless, they _did _fall into it. Simon wasn't even sure if his Bro would have fallen for it, at least the same way as Kittan had.

Then again, Simon told himself the next moment, if he was honest with himself, his Bro probably would've made an even bigger spectacle of this and would've been an even bigger idiot about it.

Simon slumped over onto the wall. It was basically over. They were done. Nia was kidnapped - Simon clenched his teeth at the thought, his eyes gaining presence for a brief moment - and they were all to be executed momentarily. Simon felt nauseous, and easily blamed himself. If it were not for his lack of competence, if his Bro was the one leading them. So many if's. So many lives half-fulfilled. So many legs half-trampled, barely resilient.

He craned his neck to observe all the futile attempts by everyone else at breaking down the solid walls of packed earth. He almost marveled at the desperate determination that had taken hold of everyone. The human will to live was something he used to comprehend, something his Bro had instilled within him. He was abruptly reminded of Nia, and her naive curiosity at what exactly a human was.

Simon lowered his gaze and strenuously grasped at straws. Had he been reduced to nothing but a shell? What could he do? How would he go about doing it? If everyone else was trying everything they could, throwing everything else away, without abandon, Simon himself could see that the identity his Bro had left him - had left all of them - was worth stretching out his tiny, insignificant arm for.

He turned around, eyes overshadowed. He tugged the dusty, small core drill over and around his neck, and rolled it around his hand a few times.

It didn't matter that they had no chance. Because Simon was prepared, finally, to force his _own_ presence through.

He reared his arm back, and the core drill struck the rock wall, the first of a thousand strikes.

_Three Legs_

Gurren Lagann rocketed out and overhead, eclipsing with shadow the startled expression on Guame's face.

Metallic, powerful feet planted themselves down, and Lagann's hatch opened so that Simon could step out, his feet just as firmly planted. Arms crossed, back straight, Simon looked ahead, towering over all those around him from his vantage on Gurren Lagann.

"Bro is dead. He isn't here anymore." He himself shook and trembled, as if something festered deep within him. Yet, his voice remained firm.

He seemed to teeter for a moment, almost on the verge of collapsing on his knees. But the instant was gone, and he stood as tall as he ever had been. In his mind's eye, the additional support that vanished along with his Bro left a void both beneath him and to his side. Conventionally unable to remain upright, Simon threw it all to abandon, and slammed his own appendage down. Whether it was possible to have originally existed or not, Simon could not have cared less, because it was very own, at the same time both corporeal and an illusion. Whether it was tangible or not, Simon willed it to appear, because what he thought Kamina had left him turned out to be something else entirely.

Yoko, who looked upon the scene with wonder, could have sworn she saw Simon sprout a third leg. When she rubbed her eyes the next moment, it was gone, perhaps nothing more than a fleeting illusion brought about by Simon's suddenly immense presence.

"But-!" Simon roared.

"_In my heart,_" The side of his clenched fist collided with his chest.

"_And on my back-!" _

Simon aggressively flung his head up, revealing his boiling tears as they streamed down, blotting out the grime that had accumulated on his face.

"**He continues to live on!**"

Simon panted as memories of Kamina surged through his consciousness in a deluge of sustainment. Simon's presence became stifling, his identity soaring.

"Who the hell do you think I am? I'm SIMON. Not my Bro, not Kamina, but _myself._ I'm Simon the Digger."

At that instant, that glorious, unhindered instant, Simon felt as though a familiar hand was placed on his shoulder, as if testing the stability of that extra, imaginary-yet-not-imaginary limb.

The limb that he impelled to become his own.

_

* * *

_

Simon panted as Gurren Lagann was repeatedly and ruthlessly pummeled by the second, Gurren Lagann-esque mecha.

"What's wrong, boy? Surely that's not all you've got?" came Lord Genome's rough, baritone voice as his mouth stretched wide to reveal jagged teeth.

His eyelid half-drooping, Simon gritted his teeth, slamming down on Lagann's controls, releasing the battered Gurren from beneath him.

Lagann's drill collided with Rasengan's much more ponderous one, but stood its ground anyway, as the two drills gyrated in opposite directions.

Wondrously, whether through sheer force of will alone or through Simon's tendency to hurl everything else to abandon, Lagann's drill shattered and overcame its larger counterpart, and Lord Genome put on an exasperated visage as he plunged himself over the top of his mecha, and dropped himself down to Lagann's level. Both he and Lagann had been launched out of the castle and onto the overhanging cliff.

Simon winced as he felt every blow, every pummel delivered by the Spiral King's actual fists.

He felt himself unceremoniously hauled out, the grip on his neck steely and unrelenting.

He felt his vision blurring, his breaths cut short.

He felt Kamina's whisper of confidence, of courage, of things perilous yet calm, of unwavering belief, belief that Simon could and will accomplish everything, with not a stone unturned, not a star unobserved.

He felt the slight tremor as he thrust the core drill into the broad, scarred chest in front of him, and absolutely _twisted, _feeling his wrist dig even deeper.

Lord Genome's eyes widened a fraction, before settling into a complacent expression of grudging acceptance. Acceptance of defeat, and of the one who would take his place and lead the world in a different direction. Whether that direction is towards destruction or existence, it was all left to the boy in front of him.

Simon could barely listen as the Spiral King spoke of the world's true Armageddon, of the desolate future brought about by things uncapped and unbottled.

Lord Genome guffawed loudly, laughing with some alternate, disdainful form of derision, before tipping backwards and toppling over the side of the cliff, his kingdom along with him.

* * *

Thus was the world, and through some large-scaled zeugma, the universe, left for Simon to shoulder in the coming years.

Through his progression, through his oscillating conduct, Simon approached his zenith as only he could. When first ascending, he could not fathom that, of the two paths laid out by fate for the Earth, for the yolked-along universe that he became responsible for, one of them would consist of oblivion.

Learning to live towards and beyond the limitless sky, not for him or his Bro or his growth, but for _legacy _and all that evolution might entail, is what came as a result of having destiny thrust upon him, and is perhaps what places him in such defined prominence, from a high, jagged pedestal that his Bro can look upon with pride, from beyond death and the afterlife.

Whatever the legacy, whatever is being passed on because of him, Simon is merely living. His life is something to be individually fulfilled by him alone.

At any point, at the climax, at the depression, at the revelation, at the beginning, at any resolution whatsoever, in the face of wondrous glory, in the face of crushing defeat, in the face of tragedy, on the brink of the final destination, Simon never has truly forgotten that he was a human.

No matter the destiny or the purpose, Simon was human, not unlike any other. He can't help but be absorbed into the same progression.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

This was my first entrance into the Gurren Lagann fandom, which is surprising, since it has long since, in my eyes, seized the title of Greatest Anime Ever Created. Well, of course, to show my fanatic obsession with the most epic, large scale, amazing anime of all time, I was bound to write a fanfiction about it sooner or later. I decided to pinpoint the thing that fascinated me most of all in the anime, even above the universal-scale explosions and giant mechas hurling make-shift galaxy shurikens at each other: Simon's growth. Far more than just pure bad-ass action and domination, Gurren Lagann had me enraptured just because of how Simon grew to what he became, and what he went through to get there. This oneshot was basically my interpretation of that. It doesn't really cover anything past the seven year time arc, simply because most of what provoked Simon through his growth happened before the timeskip. Anything after that doesn't really hold much relevance to what I'm attempting to convey here. Well, I suppose you can be the judge of that. In any case, I've rambled long enough. Hope you enjoyed it; I sure enjoyed writing it. Drop a review and tell what you thought of it, if you have the time.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gurren Lagann. Gainax does. If I had the privilege of being HALF as talented as them, then...I would be set for life.


End file.
